It was in the late 1990s when I began to seriously consider the importance of different Bible translations. I had been raised on the 1984 New International Version (NIV), which was the version I heard in church and read at home. In high school, however, I was introduced to the New American Standard Bible (NASB) by a camp evangelist — a translation I still value today. After that week at camp, I was eager to own a NASB for more serious Bible study.
At the Christian bookstore (yes, brick-and-mortar Christian bookstores still existed back then), I was faced with a decision: should I buy a Bible printed entirely in black ink, or one with the words of Jesus printed in red? At the time, I thought a red-letter Bible was clearly the better choice — after all, weren’t Jesus’ words the most important in the Bible?
While many of us may chuckle at that idea today, pastors should be cautious about dismissing it too quickly. There are many in our churches — and in broader culture — who genuinely believe that Jesus’ words, printed in red, are somehow more important or more authoritative than the rest of Scripture. This misconception highlights the need for pastors to understand and teach how Bible translations are produced — and the role publishers play in formatting them. That’s a larger discussion than this article can address, but my main concern here is to raise a red flag: pastors and church leaders must be intentional in teaching the equal authority of all Scripture.
The choice by some publishers to print Jesus’ words in red may unintentionally communicate that those words carry more weight or are more binding than the rest of Scripture. But Scripture clearly teaches otherwise. Paul reminds us that “all Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). Jesus, who is truly God and truly man, existed with the Father from the beginning. He is the Word through whom all things were made (John 1:1–4, 14). God inspired every word of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, and all of it is equally authoritative (2 Peter 1:21). The Bible is so sacred that we are warned not to add to or subtract from it (Revelation 22:18–19). While the red letters can be a helpful visual aid to highlight Jesus’ words, we must remember that all Scripture is his word — and he affirms all of it (Matthew 5:17-8; Luke 24:27).
You may think I’m making too much of this, but let me offer two reasons why I feel compelled to address it. First, I recently was told that some believe that Jesus cannot be divine because his words are in red while the rest of the Bible is not. This is a tragic misunderstanding of Bible publishing and a sign of deeper theological confusion and error regarding the nature of God, Scripture and interpretation.
Second, there is a well-known movement called Red Letter Christians, founded by Tony Campolo and Shane Claiborne. To be fair, their website affirms the importance of the entire Bible, but they emphasize interpreting Scripture through the lens of Jesus’ teachings. I agree with reading Scripture through a Christ-centered lens. However, calling themselves Red Letter Christians risks reinforcing the misconception that Jesus’ red-letter words are somehow a higher level of revelation than the rest. That’s a dangerous precedent — and one that deserves theological correction.
Let me be clear: red-letter Bibles are not bad. The first red-letter New Testament was published in 1899 by Louis Klopsch in “The Christian Herald” magazine. Two years later, the first full red-letter Bible was released. Klopsch’s idea came from reading Luke 22:20: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Motivated by a desire to highlight Jesus’ role in the biblical narrative, Klopsch enlisted scholars to assist him. His approach was careful, collaborative and well-intentioned. The red-letter edition quickly caught on, and many publishers followed suit.
So let’s not throw out red-letter Bibles but let’s also not let them shape our theology in unbiblical ways. Pastors and church leaders, keep preaching from red-letter Bibles, but teach your congregations a robust doctrine of Scripture. Remind them regularly that all Scripture is God-breathed. Teach them that every word of the Bible is the word of Jesus, who is the eternal Word made flesh, full of grace and truth.
One Response
I think that it should also be noted that the choice of *which* letters to print in red is also a matter of *opinion* since the Greek texts do not contain punctuation marks and it’s often difficult to tell where a quotation begins and/or ends. If you compare several different “red letter” Bibles you should be able to notice where some of the differences of opinion occur. Please remember that these are not differences of opinion based on a “high” or “low” view of Scripture (or of Jesus), but honest differences of opinion about the interpretation of the Greek texts themselves!